The engine of the automotive vehicle relied upon a flexible torque transmission belt for transmitting torque from the crankshaft to driven units since the earliest days of the automobile. The very earliest belts were endless flat belts formed from leather. Over time, the transmission belt took on a V-shape to avoid belt slippage. Later variations of the transmission belt include the toothed or cogged belt often used for timing.
Today, perhaps the most popular type of transmission belt used in the modern automotive vehicle is the multi-ribbed or V-ribbed belt. This belt is conventionally used to transmit torque from the engine's crankshaft to driven devices, such as the alternator, the power steering pump, the AC compressor, and the water pump. The multi-ribbed belt is manufactured as a very wide sleeve being approximately a meter wide and having perhaps 800 ribs. This sleeve is then cut into individual belts with each belt having a standard reduced rib count such as six ribs per belt. However, because the multi-ribbed belt has many uses in addition to the automotive industry, it is impossible for the manufacturer to reduce the initial wide sleeve to a belt width that finds universal application.
Accordingly, it is very common for the end user to find a belt close to the correct length for their application, but nonetheless have the wrong rib count. If a belt has more than the desired width and rib count, it can be cut down to fit the particular application.
However, cutting the multi-ribbed belt is not a simple undertaking as it is inherently structurally resilient and resistant to cutting. The multi-ribbed belt typically includes four generally distinct layers. These include a top or outer fabric layer that is conventionally composed of a polyester cotton canvas, a flat buffer or rubber supporting layer composed of a thermoset elastomer, tensile member layer composed of polyester or nylon to pass dynamic forces, and an inner layer defined by an array of parallel ribs also composed of a thermoset elastomer.
Because the multi-ribbed belt is subject to wear and is typically replaced as a precautionary measure in the repair shop when work is performed on any of the belt-driven components, it is necessary for a belt having the correct width to be readily available to the repair technician. However, at present there is no convenient tool, such as a hand tool, that allows an operator to accurately reduce the width and rib count of the belt by cutting it. Instead, the only tool used to cut belts by the repair technician is a box cutter or utility knife. In addition to presenting risk of injury to the operator, the box cutter and utility knife lack accuracy as the blade tends to follow the resilient tensile member layer that is internal to the belt and transverses the belt at an angle, thus resulting in a final product that varies in width.
Accordingly, known approaches to cutting a multi-ribbed belt to its appropriate width do not provide satisfactory results. As in so many areas of vehicle technology, there is always room for improvement related to tools and methods related to adapting a multi-ribbed transmission belt to a specific application.